In a setback to GSK, a California judge ruled that a consumer cleared a key legal hurdle and can proceed with a lawsuit claiming the Zantac heartburn was linked to cancer, a decision that suggests the company may face lengthy and expensive litigation.
The ruling stands in contrast to a decision issued last December by a U.S. federal judge in Florida, who was overseeing a separate batch of lawsuits and determined that claims the medicine can cause several different types of cancer were not backed by sound scientific evidence. The judge also strongly disagreed with the analyses offered by experts and dismissed the lawsuits.
